| Doing business today without the assistance of an | | | | a page at any time, day or night. Increasingly, |
| answering message service,also known as an | | | | individualfreelance agents will operate their own |
| answering service, is next to impossible. The | | | | answering service out of the privacy of their |
| answering messageservice of your choice may be | | | | ownhomes, and offer their virtual receptionist services |
| automated, like an answering machine, or can be a | | | | for your off-hours support. Alsobecoming more |
| bank oflive operators at an offsite location. When | | | | common in the telephone support marketplace are |
| callers reach a business without an | | | | software applicationsthat virtually do almost all the |
| answeringmessage service, the experience can be | | | | work of answering your calls for you. These |
| very irritating. Customers usually do not want tocall a | | | | programscreate a suite of voicemail options on the |
| business and reach just an answering machine or | | | | hard drive of a single computer connected toyour |
| voicemail system. They want tospeak to a live voice | | | | telephone through a voice-capable modem. The |
| that will be able to answer their questions and assist | | | | software answers your calls, andoffers your callers a |
| them with theirbusiness needs. 'Round-the-clock | | | | number of interactive choices to direct their calls to the |
| customer calls in a global market make it necessary | | | | rightindividuals or areas of your company. The |
| forall kinds of companies and organizations to hire | | | | significant drawback of all-in-one telephonysuite |
| some form of answering messageservice. In order to | | | | software application packages is that they are entirely |
| respond to customer orders, client questions or | | | | dependent on computers orentire networks being |
| solicitations,businesses need the right set of tools in | | | | online and functioning. If your computer encounters a |
| order to be ready for the task. A | | | | problem thatprevents the software from running, you |
| professionalanswering message service is the most | | | | experience a hard disk error or if your |
| important item in your organization'sadministrative | | | | businessexperiences a power outage, then your calls |
| support toolkit. | | | | are lost. Answering message services thatfeature live |
| Choosing the right answering message service | | | | operators provide a nearly disaster-proof solution |
| depends on the type of serviceyour business needs. | | | | when your businessencounters an electrical outage or |
| Most companies need a live operator answering their | | | | severe computer problem. Many |
| calls. Sometype of software also needs to be present | | | | organizationspurchase a software-based telephony |
| so that the operator answering the telephone callwill be | | | | solution, but also contract with a live |
| able to relay the correct information to your callers. | | | | answeringmessage service to provide critical back-up |
| The most common form of answering message | | | | and contingency support when somethinggoes wrong. |
| service comes in the form of aphysical call center that | | | | The answering message service method that you |
| offers live operators to answer your forwarded calls. | | | | choose for your officeultimately depends on your |
| Answering message service companies may also | | | | business needs and your budget. A quick search on |
| offer voicemail as well as the purchaseof additional | | | | theinternet provides a list of many competing services |
| local or toll free telephone numbers for your business | | | | who offer similar features with a widevariety of price |
| at an additional cost. | | | | points. Many of these services cater to a nationwide |
| Some answering message services also provide | | | | or even a globalclientele. Some of these companies |
| access to customized vanity toll freetelephone | | | | offer a more local accent to their service list. |
| numbers, depending on what number and letter | | | | It'simportant to choose an answering message service |
| combinations are available onthe open market. These | | | | that reflects the image that you wantyour clients to |
| companies provide a variety of ways of delivering | | | | hear on the other end of the telephone line. A service |
| your messagesto you, through email, fax and voicemail. | | | | that projectscourteous professionalism through their |
| Important, emergency or urgent calls can alsobe | | | | live operators not only will insure your businessagainst |
| delivered in a method that you choose, including calling | | | | caller attrition and lost business, but will help keep your |
| your designated contacttelephone numbers or sending | | | | business growing duringoff hours. |